Computer simulations have been used for a number of years in forestry management. There are a number of different computer simulations known in the art that are used for forestry management. Forest inventory systems provide for a picture of timber resources at a specific moment in time. Forestry growth systems with mathematical growth models provide a way of simulating tree growth. Harvest schedule systems produce harvest and planting schedules find optimum harvest schedules for one or more stands of trees.
These forestry simulation tools have proven effective for specific applications, but they are difficult to use and customize. There are also a number of problems associated with using forestry simulations systems known in the art. Some of forestry simulation systems require a forestry manager input a large data file as batch job on a large mainframe computer and cannot be used on a time-shared computer. The batch forestry simulation may run for a significant amount of time, and the forestry simulation results are not instantaneous, but are delayed by some time period (e.g., a half-hour).
Other forestry simulation systems are used on personal computers but are application specific and are not designed to simulate more than one or two aspects of forest management at one time. Forestry simulation systems know in the art and used on personal computers are also written in programming languages like the C programming language that do not allow re-use of source code modules and are not easily adaptable. The forestry simulation systems known in the art typically do not have a graphical user interface that allow easy interaction with the underlying forestry simulation systems.
Today's forest manager should consider many complex factors simultaneously when managing forested land. Forestry management systems known in the art that consider one or two forestry management factors in isolation have proved to be ineffective in many situations to make accurate predictions for the management of forest lands.
Complex factors such as timber management, wildlife management, recreation, environmental quality and others are interrelated and need to be simulated together and not in isolation. Forestry simulations known in the art do not address today's complex forest management needs. The effective management of forest resources for multiple use has been hampered by a dearth of good simulation tools that can effectively consider multiple goals simultaneously.